World News | Colombian Coal Mine Blast Kills 11, Search on for Survivors
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A powerful explosion in a coal mine in central Colombia that affected four other mines linked by tunnels has killed at least 11 people and left others missing, the government said on Wednesday.
Bogota (Colombia), Mar 15 (AP) A powerful explosion in a coal mine in central Colombia that affected four other mines linked by tunnels has killed at least 11 people and left others missing, the government said on Wednesday.
President Gustavo Petro said on his Twitter account that rescuers were making every effort to reach the trapped miners.
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The blast took place Tuesday night in the municipality of Sutatausa in Cundinamarca province.
Cundinamarca Gov. Nicolás García Bustos initially reported four deaths with two people recovered alive and 17 still trapped in the mine.
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Álvaro Farfán, captain of the Cundinamarca fire department, told local media the explosion affected five mines interconnected by tunnels, generating a “chain" blast.
Petro later raised the death toll to 11, but did not say how many miners were still trapped.
Farfán said the initial hypothesis is that the explosion was caused by an accumulation of gases.
Explosions, landslide and other emergencies are common in Colombian coal mines. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)